Deconstruction of Children's Newspaper: 'First News'

'First News' is a newspaper which is just for children. Although the newspaper is aimed at a younger audience than mine, I think it would be beneficial if I looked at the structure of the newspaper and analyse it to see how the childrens newspaper is similar to those of local and tabloid papers aimed at adults. Also it will help me to determine how I can layout my newspaper, maybe incorprating a similar style.

First Page:
At the top of the page on the left hand side their is the information of the paper which includes the issue number, the date of issue and the page number. Also situated their but on the right hand side is the website of the paper. Below this there is a colour banner which has the words 'First News HEADLINES'. This banner goes across the page, changing colour as it changes topic. On the page there are three articles; they are all very large because they are made primarily for children. The page is also mostly taken up by picture space; another thing that I noticed was that there was colour throughout the newspaper. This is due to the fact they want it to appeal more to children as bold colours captivate many children. Unlike lots of other papers there are no captions underneath the picture's this is due to the audience of the paper.

There are two articles on the top half of the page, the first article on the left hand side takes up around 20cm in width and the second article around 9cm. The first article has a bold blue headline and is simple, clear and easy to read. The picture for the article is 15cm with the article itself only 5cm. There is only one column of writing for the article with the first sentance being in bold also the first word is in capitals. The article next to it is significantly shorter with the picture at the top of the page; again the picture is bigger than the article and in colour. The article is very short with only 6 lines. The first two lines (first sentance) are in bold. The article at the bottom of the page is the largest on the page and therefore the main article on the page as the two articles at the top of the page are split. There is a red background which draws the reader in. The headline is in bold and double the size of the other headlines. The article takes up around 13cm in width but is only 9 cm in length compared to the picture which is 14cm in width but is 18cm in length. There are two columns for the writing and again similar to the other two articles the first sentance is in bold. Also just above the second column the is the name of the editor. The top half of the page has a white background but the bottom half if in red and is very eye catching. The pictures are large and in colour; this is all done to captivate children instead of 'boring' black and white.

There are no adverts on the page; this is different to other papers as tabloid and local newspapers use ads as it is a main source of income. There are no adverts on the page due to the laws regarding advertising to children brought in by the ASA (advertising standards authority.)

The Secretary of State, Ed Balls said "Children are more likely to make product purchases and define themselves in terms of specific brands at a young age. Academics are concerned at the link between comercial advertising and child well-being, self-esteem and anxieties"

Second Page:
The page is split with three different articles and an editors comments section. The main article, which takes up around a third of the page has a bright blue background and a large picture of a watch, which is related to the article. There are four columns, and it is the largest article in terms of lentgh. Next to this is a editors comments box. It asks what they think of the article on the page and that they can e-mail in. Below this their are two other articles the first of which has a large bold blue headline which captivates the reader. There is a large picture below this with only 5 lines of writing. Like the first page the first sentance is in bold. The Last article again has a large picture and a bold red heading. Like the previous articles the first sentance is in bold. There are three columns of which are short and only have five lines.

The articles are all easy to read, with bright colours to appeal to children. The pictures take up most of the space with heaslines also taking up a lot of the space. There are also lots of bright colours on the page which makes everything stand out. Like the other page their is also the heading at the top with the issue number, date and the webpage.

On the page their is also a 'this week in history' which is a little note on what happened on this day. It's like a quick fact and has a bright red outline which makes it stand out.